Effects of diet composition and beak trimming on the incidence of cannibalism in laying hens

Title
Effects of diet composition and beak trimming on the incidence of cannibalism in laying hens
Publication Date
2001
Author(s)
Hartini, S
Choct, Mingan
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2242-8222
Email: mchoct@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:mchoct
Hinch, Geoffrey
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4731-865X
Email: ghinch@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:ghinch
Nolan, John V
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7949-950X
Email: jnolan@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:jnolan
Editor
Editor(s): D Balnave, EF Annison, WL Bryden, DJ Farrell, DR Fraser, RJ Hughes, RAE Pym, BL Sheldon
Type of document
Conference Publication
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
University of Sydney
Place of publication
Sydney, Australia
UNE publication id
une:17677
Abstract
A total of 2880 ISA Brown hens were used to investigate the effect of diet composition on the incidence of cannibalism in a 2 (dim and bright rearing) x 2 (with or without beak-trimming) x 4 (commercial diet, high-insoluble fibre diet, high-soluble fibre diet, high-soluble fibre diet plus enzyme) factorial experiment. Beak trimming had a profound effect (P<0.001) on cannibalism with mortality occurring predominantly in untrimmed birds. Total mortality for the trimmed birds was 0.14% and 0.77% for the pre-lay and early lay periods whereas it was 13.4% and 37.7% respectively for the untrimmed birds. Type of diet significantly affected cannibalism (P<0.01) with high-fibre diets appearing to be preventative against cannibalism. The highest mortality occurred in birds on the commercial diet, i.e. 13% and 29% for the pre-lay and early lay periods. Light intensity during rearing did not influence the incidence of cannibalism. The beak-trimmed birds had lower feed intakes than the non-trimmed birds (P<0.05). Diet also affected the feed intake (P<0.05), being lower (P<0.05) on the commercial diet than on the higher fibre diets. Egg production did not differ significantly between diets.
Link
Citation
Proceedings of the Australian Poultry Science Symposium, v.13, p. 216-219
ISSN
1034-6260
1034-3466
Start page
216
End page
219

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